Spurring China-Spain Relations

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s visit to China will add considerable impetus to Spain-China ties, José Luis Centella, president of the Communist Party of Spain, declared in a recent exclusive interview with China Today in Beijing.

Invited by the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Centella headed a delegation comprising representatives of Spain's left-wing political parties, think tanks and media that visited China in March. Centella sat down for an exclusive interview with China Today on March 23. He shared his views about the momentum of bilateral relations and their many and varied exchanges.

“Over the past 50 years, trade and cultural exchanges between Spain and China have increased dramatically,” Centella said. In 2022 the bilateral goods trade showed a year-on-year 6.5 percent increase to US $51.5 billion, according to official data, so making China Spain’s largest trade partner outside the EU. Meanwhile, people-to-people exchanges between the two countries continued to flourish. With more than 100 colleges offering Spanish learning programs, China has the largest enrolment of Spanish language students than any other non-Spanish-speaking country. There is in Spain a Chinese community of around 200,000 people, and around 40,000 Spaniards have studied the Chinese language over the past decade. “Spain and China have strengthened their cultural exchanges through such platforms as Confucius Institutes, Instituto Cervantes, and exchange students,” Centella said.

The Spanish Party leader laid particular emphasis on the role of head-of-state diplomacy in promoting bilateral ties. “President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Spain before the pandemic provided opportunities for more bilateral cooperation,” Centella said. When President Xi Jinping made his state visit to Spain in 2018, the two countries issued a joint statement that marked a new era of comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Spain. In November 2022, President Xi and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez met in Bali, Indonesia, and reached an important consensus that set the stage for future development of bilateral ties.

Centella pointed out the huge potential that bilateral trade offers to be tapped into, saying, “Spain can offer Chinese consumers a wide range of high-quality products. And China can provide hi-tech products and services to Spain. China is already a global power in this field.”

Centella made particular mention of the Yiwu-Madrid railway line, which has shortened the freight transportation time between the two countries to 10-odd days from the previous two months it took by sea. The railway line, “has made possible a huge commodity flow between the two countries, and spurred bilateral ties” and radiated to over 50 countries across the Eurasia land mass. During the pandemic, when Spain suffered a serious shortage of medical supplies, the Yiwu-Madrid railway line played a significant role in transporting such supplies from China to Spain.

“What I want to talk about is the future expansion of the Yiwu-Madrid railway line,” Centella told China Today. He hopes that the China-Europe railway line will be extended to Europe as a whole. Alluding to the negative impact of the ongoing Ukraine crisis on Europe, Centella stressed, “This railway line upholds the spirit of peace, as it transports only commodities, not weapsons.”

Since its debut in 2018, the China International Import Expo (CIIE) has become an important trade platform for Spanish products to enter the Chinese market. “I attended the CIIE in 2019. Spanish companies have always appreciated the immense value that the trade fair generates for them. I believe Pedro Sánchez’s visit will deepen bilateral trade ties by creating more opportunities for Spanish firms to participate in the CIIE and the Chinese market as a whole,” Centella said. The word is that Spanish ham, red wine, olive oil and canned tuna are among the CIIE’s most sought after items.